Stellar Resources lines up next promising project in tin-rich North West Tasmania

• SRZ to acquire Granite Tor project, prospective for tin and rare earths
• Granite Tor sits in same granites that host flagship Heemskirk tin project
• Expands holding to 156km2 to feed future production at Heemskirk

Special Report: In a bid to become one of the top 10 global tin producers, Stellar Resources has secured a third project in North West Tasmania’s tin province to add to a tin portfolio that includes the Heemskirk and East Renison projects.

Stellar Resources (ASX:SRZ) has acquired a full interest in the Granite Tor project, which sits in the same basement stratigraphy and Devonian granites that host the Renison tin mine (owned by Metals X and Yunnan Tin) and Stellar’s Heemskirk project.

The project has both tin and rare earth element (REE) potential. Stream sediment sampling by past explorers returned up to 8.1% tin along a four-kilometre-long soil anomaly, and up to 9.5% cerium.

Stellar Resources managing director Simon Taylor said it was a pleasure to add the Granite Tor project to SRZ’s portfolio of tin opportunities.

“The project provides a low-cost entry point for exposure to a large area with demonstrated tin potential along with REE elements such as Cerium,” he said.

“With the ongoing progression of the Heemskirk Project in Zeehan, we are comfortable expanding the company’s footprint in the stable tier-1 mining friendly jurisdiction of western Tasmania.

“While Stellar remains focused on the nearby Heemskirk Project and the delivery of the Prefeasibility Study, we look forward to progressing initial exploration activities at Granite Tor as part of our development pipeline.”

Becoming a global tin producer

Stellar intends to build its production capabilities in Tasmania’s world-class tin province with the goal of becoming a top 10 global tin producer.

The acquisition of Granite Tor consolidates SRZ’s landholding around Heemskirk. The company now controls 156 square kilometres between the East Renison and Granite Tor projects.

East Renison sits just to the southeast of the Renison Tin Mine, the largest tin producer in Australia.

It produces about 11,000 tonne of tin per year, accounting for about 3.9% of global tin supply, hosted within the same granites as Heemskirk, East Renison and Granite Tor.

And in an already-tight global market, Indonesia’s order to close 1000 illegal tin mines a cancelled 80-tonne order to the London Metal Exchange could add further constraints to a metal now trading beyond US$35,400 a tonne after a 20% price rise in the year to date.

Stellar intends to explore and develop its exploration licences in parallel with its flagship Heemskirk tin project, with the eventual aim of feeding into future production at Heemskirk.

SRZ is in the midst of producing a pre-feasibility study for Heemskirk, having already inked memorandums of understanding over existing mining infrastructure, including the 900,000tpa Avebury Plant currently in care and maintenance.

Stellar is also working toward a mineral resource estimate update for Heemskirk, which currently sits at 7.48MT at 1.04% tin for 77,870 tonnes of tin.

The deposit is already ranked the highest-grade undeveloped tin resource in Australia and the third globally, and the company is confident of improving it further with ongoing drilling.

This article was developed in collaboration with Stellar Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.